Frank Vignola

Calling Frank Vignola a virtuoso is something of an understatement. Recognized primarily as a world-class jazz guitarist, but well versed in every genre, his resume includes work with a range of artists from Ringo Starr to Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel and the legendary Les Paul, with whom he performed regularly for a number of years.

Vignola has recorded numerous albums, performed on countless sessions, written 18 guitar instruction books and recorded six educational DVDs. He has held hundreds of clinics and master classes and tours the world. Accompanying him on the road is guitarist Vinny Raniolo; together, they perform between 150 and 200 shows per year and recently released the album Melody Magic. “I’m very happy and always feel good about playing for audiences,” he says. “We get them involved, we make them laugh a little bit, we dance around sometimes, and we play great melodies and songs, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Four of America’s best jazz guitarists will converge in Salt Lake City on Saturday for the Guitar Masters Summit.

Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Gene Bertoncini and Frank Vignola will bring their guitars and considerable talent to Capitol Theatre for the JazzSLC event.

“I trust these four giants to do something amazing,” said Kevin Johansen, professor of guitar studies at the University of Utah. “I would go to hear any one of them individually. The fact that they’re all four together is exciting.”

While it’s not unheard of to have four guitarists perform in one concert, it is an unusual event, Johansen said. “I know it sounds guitar-heavy, but each of these players has a unique personality and sound that’s all their own.”

One of guitar legend Les Paul’s favorite jazz musicians was in Tahlequah on Friday to conduct a free workshop at Northeastern State University’s Jazz Lab.

World-renowned guitarist and educator Frank Vignola, along with fellow New York guitarist Vinny Raniolo, provides insight on what it means to be a musician.

Raniolo began playing at age 6. His love of playing guitar and music began after listening to jazz records with his dad, who would host Thursday rehearsals in their New York-area home, and still loves to play guitar today.

“The first records I heard were Les Paul records, Charlie Christian records, Joe Pass records and Django Reinhardt records,” said Raniolo. “My father was a fan of guitar and banjo music. He still plays today semi-professionally. He showed me some chords and some of the songs. I played along to the records for the first three or four years.”

Raniolo was introduced to rock ‘n roll when he was in his early teens, listening to Frank Zappa records.